Having ditched Google Maps in favor of its in-house mapping solution in iOS 6, Apple could now be extending iOS 6 Maps to Macs running OS X Mountain Lion. This would seem logical and inevitable given Apple recently confirmed the use of OpenStreetMap data in iPhoto for both iOS and Mac. Apple conceivably has the maps.apple.com subdomain set up, which currently redirects to the iOS 6 section on its website…

During his routine investigation of Maps app, Cody found some interesting bits in the file altitude_manifest.xml In this XML file, there is a reference to a set of Intel based graphics chipsets for which certain features like Shading are disabled.

iOS devices don’t run Intel chips, opening door to speculation that Apple could be working to support its own mapping solution on Intel-powered Macs. The string mentions shading routines supported by Intel chips.

This could mean a number of things, from an enhanced Apple Maps representation in select Apple apps, like iPhoto and Aperture, to hardware-accelerated rendering of maps in desktop Safari browser via the maps.apple.com URL to a possible standalone OS X Maps application.

Apple yanked Google Maps from both iOS 6 and its own apps, such as iPhoto.

Apple previously said it will launch OS X Mountain Lion later this month as a twenty buck download via the Mac App Store.

What do you think, will Apple Maps remain exclusive to iOS 6 or eventually appear on Macs as well?